A kiosk is essentially a self-service system, i.e., a computer system placed inside a box as illustrated in FIG. 1 or a desktop computer system for use in providing information and/or performing transactions (e.g., dispensing money as done by automated teller machines). A kiosk often employs a touch screen as the input device since touch screens are easy to use and immediately intuitive for almost all users; however, other types of pointing devices such as a mouse may also be used. With the advancements achieved by technology in recent years, the use of kiosks has become an economical and efficient alternative to the traditional form of providing interactive information and performing transactions; i.e., human-to-human interaction. Furthermore, kiosks are very effective in marketing and selling services and products since they may be programmed to provide information utilizing all of the resources available on multimedia; e.g., still graphics, sound, animations and full-motion video. This is why more and more government agencies and private business concerns are installing kiosks to better run and better market themselves. It has been estimated that by 1998, the number of kiosks installed in the United States will reach approximately 500,000 units.
Application programs exist which access and display many different types of electronic information, such as a text file, a graphics file, a sound file, a video file and a database item, to name a few. Accessing a file or a document using such software can be as simple as clicking a hyperlink (e.g., a highlighted word showing on a computer monitor screen) using a button on a mouse. A hyperlink, or simply link, is a way to "jump" from one document to another to which the link is connected.
For a kiosk system which is utilized by numerous users, providing access to the world wide web (the web) and/or any other location having browser-displayable documents via the existing graphical user interfaces (GUIs) of the various browsers is not desirable for the following reasons. First, the menu bar, the document title area, etc. not only detract from the appearance of the GUI, but the number of menu choices provided by existing browsers is unwieldy and unnecessary in a kiosk environment where a user is primarily interested in quickly obtaining pertinent information (as an example, Netscape Navigator 2.01 offers 66 menu choices). This is especially the case since many kiosks provide information via touch screens, where a simplified user-friendly interface with a select number of essential buttons is desired.
Second, the menu bar has menu choices which permit a user to alter the settings of the browser. In a kiosk system where uniformity and predictability of use is essential to achieving self-service, having menu choices which permit modification of the desired settings pose significant problems.
Third, a user can access and display any document accessible to the graphical browser, including documents which do not further the goal of the government agency or the business which has established the kiosk to provide interactive information pertaining to the government agency or the business.
And fourth, a user may perform a system function which is not desired by the kiosk provider. For example, a user of the browser running on Microsoft Windows platform may press Ctrl-Alt-Del keys to restart or crash the system. Unless prevented, the system may cease to function as a self-service kiosk device.
It would, therefore, be desirable to provide tamper-resistant, browser software which provides a visually pleasing, user-friendly, user interface suitable for use in a self-service kiosk.